Departmental Policies

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will set out, with statistical evidence relating as closely as possible to Gateshead East and Washington West constituency, the effects in Gateshead East and Washington West of changes to his Department's policies since 1997.

Karen Buck: The Department has put in place a considerable programme of improvements across a wide range of transport policy areas since 1997. I am confident that the Gateshead East and Washington West constituency will have benefited from these. For example, the injury totals for all road casualties in Great Britain fell from 327,803 in 1997 to 280,840 in 2004, and the numbers of children aged less than 16 years killed or seriously injured on our roads fell from 6,452 in 1997 to 3,905 in 2004. On our railways, passenger kilometres have increased from 32.1 billion in 1996–67 to 42.4 billion in 2004–05, a rise of 32 per cent. In terms of improvements to air quality, emissions of the UK's two main pollutants, nitrous oxides and particles, fell by 38 per cent. and 21 per cent. respectively between 1997 and 2003.
	Capital funding for local transport in the Gateshead East and Washington West constituency is allocated to the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Authority and the local district councils. The funding allocated to the councils Tyne and Wear since 1997 is shown in the table below 1 . It has been for the local authorities to determine how that allocation has been spent, in line with their local transport plan and their priorities.
	1 Funding allocations for 1997–98 not included since they cover a period proceeding May 1997 and announcements concerning the 1997–98 allocations were made in 1996.
	
		
			 £ million 
			 Tyne and Wear nature of funding 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 
		
		
			 Capital maintenance 6.058 7.822 8.646 10.839 
			 Integrated block 5.349 8.391 7.925 16.509 
			 Major schemes 6.138 6.651 24.61 16.992 
			 Targeted bus grants(1) 1.34 0.44 0.65 0.54 
			 Total 18.885 23.304 41.831 44.88 
		
	
	
		
			 £ million 
			 Tyne and Wear nature of funding 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 
		
		
			 Capital maintenance 11.518 9.433 16.990 14.379 
			 Integrated block 17.146 13.252 16.245 17.072 
			 Major schemes 22.545 22.0 22.427 16.396 
			 Targeted bus grants(1) 1.53 2.43 0.13 0.13 
			 Total 52.739 47.115 55.792 47.977 
		
	
	(1) Includes Rural Bus Subsidy Grant and Rural Bus challenge funding.
	The total number of deaths and serious injuries on the roads in the Gateshead and Sunderland local authority areas reduced from a 1994–98 average of 134 and 162 to 85 and 121 in 2003 respectively. The number of children killed or seriously injured in the Gateshead and Sunderland local authority areas reduced from a 1994–98 average of 27 and 46 to 16 and 34 in 2003 respectively.
	Passenger kilometres travelled on the Tyne and Wear metro have increased from 254 million in 1996–97 to 283 million in 2004–05. The system has increased the number of stations and stops served from 46 in 1996–97 to 58 in 2004–05, with the system being extended to Sunderland.

Drivers

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to require drivers in their first year of holding a full licence to be subject to (a) compulsory designation and (b) additional speed restrictions.

Stephen Ladyman: As part of the Road Safety Strategy, the Department consulted in 2002 on a number of options for improving the safety of new drivers, the majority of whom are safe and drive responsibly. The Government concluded that the skills needed to drive unaccompanied should be demonstrated at the time of the practical test. Proposals for a requirement to use a "P" (probationer) plate, and a limit on the maximum speed for new drivers, were not justified.
	We believe that the way forward is to focus on ensuring that learners are better trained and that driver training services are of high quality.
	The consultation document and decision letter are available on-line from the Department's website at www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_control/documents/contentservertemplate/dft_index.hcst?n=10204&l=2l

Parking Offences (Decriminalisation)

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the process by which power was transferred from the police to local authorities following the decriminalisation of parking offences; what steps he took to ensure that this was a smooth transition of authority; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what guidelines he has provided for local authorities to ensure the validity of penalty charge notices since the decriminalisation of parking offences;
	(3)  what assessment he has made of the management of parking offences by local authorities since decriminalisation of parking offences; and if he will make a statement.

Karen Buck: The Road Traffic Act 1991 provides for the decriminalisation of most non-endorseable on-street parking offences in London and allows similar arrangements to be introduced elsewhere. Research for the Department by the Transport Research Laboratory ("Special Parking Areas in London"; "The Special Parking Area in the District of Winchester"; and "The Special Parking Area in Oxford") showed that decriminalised parking enforcement provides local authorities with greater control over their enforcement activity and an enhanced ability to deliver their parking strategies. The Department partly funded the British Parking Association's recent review of decriminalised parking enforcement, which concluded that the existing system works well but that it would benefit from some modifications.
	In 1995, the Secretary of State issued detailed guidance for local authorities in England outside of London on applying for, introducing and operating decriminalised parking enforcement. The guidance—local authority circular 1/95—makes clear that local authorities should liaise with the police to ensure a smooth and orderly transfer of responsibilities and that they should, therefore, continue to liaise with the police so that the two systems can operate effectively side-by-side. When applying for the power to enforce parking regulations, authorities have to submit detailed applications to the Department for Transport which need to confirm, among other things, that the authority will review its existing Traffic Regulation Orders, signs and road markings and use suitable documentation—including an appropriate penalty charge notice (PCN)—when enforcing contraventions. The appropriate police authority is asked whether it supports the application.
	Circular 1/95 also makes clear that the Government expect authorities to have regard to the minimum or common standards set out in that guidance. The information that must appear on a penalty charge notice is set out in the Road Traffic Act 1991. The Secretary of State's 1/95 guidance provides further suggestions about information that should be provided on penalty charge notices.
	The Department is considering options for strengthening the existing system for the civil enforcement of parking contraventions while drafting regulations and guidance under Part 6 of the Traffic Management Act 2005. We have established an expert working group to help us take this work forward and aim to carry out public consultation in spring 2006.

Speed Cameras

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport to what budget the funds raised by speeding fines not spent on running the West Mercia Safety Camera Partnership were applied in each of the years for which figures are available.

Stephen Ladyman: The Safety Camera Partnership in West Mercia joined the national safety camera programme in April 2003. Their running costs, amount of fines collected from fixed penalty fines and the resulting surplus were:
	
		
			£ 
			  Running costs Amount collected from fixed penalty fines Surplus 
		
		
			 2003–04 2,607,770 3,086,160 478,390 
			 2004–05 2,289,700 3,095,940 806,240 
		
	
	The surplus goes to the Consolidated Fund.

Queen's Ambulance Service Medal

Jacqui Lait: To ask the Prime Minister when he plans to announce the first Queen's Ambulance Service Medal award.

Tony Blair: Her Majesty the Queen is advised by the "Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals" on all matters to do with honours and medals. Proposals for the institution of new medals are considered by this Committee before advice is offered to Her Majesty the Queen. No proposal has been submitted to the Committee.

Tibet

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Prime Minister if he will raise the issues of Tibet and human rights abuses with the Chinese President during his state visit in November.

Tony Blair: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House of Commons (Mr. Hoon) to my hon. Friend the Member for Leyton and Wanstead (Harry Cohen) at Prime Minister's questions on 26 October 2005, Official Report, column 300.

Animal and Plant Diseases

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps her Department is taking to prevent the import of (a) animal and (b) plant disease; and if she will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: A comprehensive import regime exists in European Community law to ensure that animals and animal products imported from non EU countries do not pose a risk to animal or human health. They must come from approved countries and must be accompanied by official veterinary certification in a form specified in Community law. Animal products for human consumption must also come from approved establishments to ensure that they have been produced under hygienic conditions.
	Imported animals and animal products must enter the EU at designated Border Inspection Posts (BIPs) where they are subject to veterinary inspections. All consignments are subject to documentary and identity checks. A number of animals from each consignment are physically checked and a proportion of consignments of animal products undergo physical checks. EU law lays down minimum levels for physical checks, which vary depending on the product. These checks are to ensure that import conditions are met.
	Emergency safeguard action, which may include a ban on imports of animals and meat from all, or parts, of the affected country, can be taken if there is an outbreak of disease in an exporting country likely to present a risk to human or animal health.
	The import of products of animal origin by individual travellers in their personal luggage is judged to be a potential route by which animal disease could be introduced. Following pressure by the Government, new tighter EU rules governing these imports were introduced in 2003.
	Action against illegal imports forms part of the overall Defra Animal Health and Welfare Strategy.
	£25 million of new money has been made available over three years 2003–04, 2004–05 and 2005–06 to tackle illegal imports of products of animal origin (POAO) and plants and plant based goods (PBG) from third countries.
	HM Revenue and Customs are the delivery agent with enforcement responsibility at the frontier for illegal imports of products of animal origin (POAO) and plant based goods (PBG) from countries outside the European Union.
	Customs enforcement is based on risk. This includes information provided by Defra on the animal health disease situation around the world, including the risks from new disease outbreaks. Defra provide Customs with the 'map of the world' (informed by OIE) detailing animal health risks to assist Customs in deploying their resources according to risk.
	Enforcement powers in relation to illegally imported live animals are the responsibility of the Trading Standards department of the relevant local authority. Defra is working in partnership with HMRC on this issue and they have been kept informed of developments. As a result Customs are being more vigilant. If they come across live animals in the course of their duties they will hand these over to the State Veterinary Service or local authority.
	The importation from non-EU countries of animal pathogens and carriers is prohibited except under licence. Licences issued to authorise such imports impose conditions for their safe handling and disposal. Animal pathogens causing the most serious exotic diseases of livestock and poultry are strictly controlled under the Specified Animal Pathogens Order 1998 (SAPO). Specified animal pathogens may only be imported by those licensed to hold or work with them under SAPO. To be considered for licensing an establishment must meet the relevant Defra containment and operating requirements for the specified animal pathogen concerned and inspections are carried out to confirm this.
	Imports from third countries of plants and most types of plant produce require a phytosanitary certificate issued by the plant health services in the country of origin stating that the consignment meets our plant health import rules. For movements within the EC, consignments of high risk plants must carry a "plant passport". Defra's Plant Health and Seeds Inspectorate carried out 10,128 check inspections of imports from non-EU countries last year, 29,884 inspections of plants and produce moving within the EU, and 32,617 inspections of plants susceptible to Phytophthora ramorum (the pathogen which causes Sudden Oak Death in California). Where potentially damaging pests or diseases or other evidence of non-compliance were found, proportionate actions were taken to deal with the immediate risk and to reduce the possibility of recurrence.
	In order to improve the effectiveness of import controls and implement recent changes to the Plant Health Directive a further nine Plant Health Inspectors have been recruited this year to be based at major air and sea ports. The UK supported the recent adoption by the EC's Standing Committee on Plant Health of a risk targeting mechanism to determine appropriate rates of inspection for import trades depending on their compliance record. The UK also plays an active role in setting international standards for plant health controls and monitoring their implementation as well as ensuring that regulatory action on plant pests and diseases is based on good scientific evidence.
	Defra recently published a plant health strategy to set out: objectives and priorities for protecting plant health in England; the relative roles of government and other stakeholders in delivery of these objectives; and how activities relevant to plant health (including research) of Defra, its executive agencies and other bodies should best be co-ordinated. The strategy represents part of Defra's response to the National Audit Office (NAO) and Public Accounts Committee (PAC) reports 'Protecting England and Wales from plant pests and diseases.'

Waste

Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what percentage of controlled non-municipal waste in England and Wales was classified as recyclable in each year since 1995;
	(2)  what the total amount of controlled waste from non-municipal sources in England and Wales was for each of the years 1995 to 2005; and what amount of controlled waste from such sources went to landfill in each year.

Ben Bradshaw: Information is not available for all years in the format requested. Information is not available on the amounts of non-municipal waste which is recyclable but not actually recycled or re-used. The tables show available information on controlled non-municipal waste. Information for construction and demolition waste cover England only. Industrial and commercial waste cover England and Wales. Information for dredged materials cover United Kingdom.
	
		Controlled non-municipal waste, total arisings(2) Million tonnes
		
			  1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 Construction and demolition — — 69 — 89 — 91 
			 Industrial — 50 — — — 42 — 
			 Commercial — 25 — — — 31 — 
			 Dredged materials(3) 22 17 33 17 — — — 
		
	
	(2) In addition there is around one million tonnes of sewage sludge produced each year.
	(3) Materials dumped at sea.
	
		Controlled non-municipal waste, recycled and re-used Million tonnes (percentage of total source)
		
			  1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 Construction and demolition — — 24(35) — 43 (49) — 45 (50) 
			 Industrial — 22 (44) — — — 20 (49) — 
			 Commercial — 6 (24) — — — 11 (37) — 
		
	
	
		Controlled non-municipal waste, sent to landfill Million tonnes (percentage of total source)
		
			  1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 Construction and demolition — — 26 (37) — 23 26) — 29 (32) 
			 Industrial — 21 (42) — — — 14 (34) — 
			 Commercial — 13 (54) — — — 15 (48) —

Waste

Daniel Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if the Government will introduce a zero waste policy as a long-term goal of its waste strategy.

Ben Bradshaw: Waste Strategy 2000 set out the Government's priorities for sustainable waste management. The Government's response to the Strategy Unit Report "Waste Not Want Not" identified further steps to be taken to help deliver our priorities and targets. Although Waste Strategy 2000 is not a zero waste strategy (either zero waste to landfill, or a totally closed resource cycle), it does demand substantial waste minimisation, and significantly increased levels of re-use and recycling. In our current review of Waste Strategy 2000 we are considering what our long-term goal should be.

Company Law

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has received on allowing stakeholders a means of redress when companies have had a negative impact on communities or the environment; and if he will make a statement.

Alun Michael: The Government has received a large number of responses to its proposals for company law reform. Many of these have commented on the proposals relating to the statutory statement of directors' duties, and on issues relating to the question "in whose interests should companies be run?". The responses have been considered carefully and have informed the drafting of the relevant clauses of the Company Law Reform Bill.

Departmental Staff

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the rates of employee absence in his Department have been in each year since 1997.

Alan Johnson: I refer the hon. Member to the figures contained in the annual report "Analysis of Sickness Absence in the Civil Service" published by the Cabinet Office. Table A of the report gives details of both the average working days absence per staff year and the number of staff years on which that calculation is based on. The most recent report for the calendar year 2003 was published on 1 November 2004, copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House. This report and those for 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002 are available on the Cabinet Office website at: http://www.civilservice. gov.uk/management_of_the_civil_service/conditions_ of_service/occupational_health/publications/index.asp

Energy Efficiency/Prices/Promotion Expenditure

Alan Reid: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps are being taken (a) to improve resource efficiency and (b) to reduce waste and harmful emissions across business sectors, with particular reference to the Business Resource Efficiency and Waste programme.

Malcolm Wicks: The joint DTI /DEFRA Envirowise programme is the main government initiative promoting resource efficiency to business, with an emphasis on prevention (avoidance and minimisation of production of waste) rather than cure (managing existing wastes by recycling, disposal, etc). As such the programme is an important delivery mechanism for our Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) aims and objectives, as set out in the Governments SCP Framework "Changing Patterns: the UK Government Framework for Sustainable Consumption and Production".
	The DEFRA Business Resource Efficiency and Waste (BREW) programme is providing £50 million over three years to be spent through the Technology Programme. Support is provided through competitions held twice a year for collaborative research and development projects, with support also for Knowledge Transfer Networks. To date there have been two competitions held in November 2004 and April 2005.

Energy Efficiency/Prices/Promotion Expenditure

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much money the Government have spent on promoting the use of (a) wind power, (b) solar power, (c) hydro power and (d) nuclear power in each of the last five years.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 25 October 2005
	It has not been possible to collate all public expenditure and other Government support since 1999 for energy technologies in the time available at proportionate cost. However it is possible to detail direct DTI and Research Council expenditure on new and renewables, and nuclear. These are set out in the following tables.
	In addition to this both DEFRA and the Scottish Executive provide funding to the Carbon Trust which conducts research into low carbon energy activities among other activities.
	
		DTI new and renewable energy programme—external spend for each technology area by financial year from 1990–91(rounded to nearest £000)
		
			  Spend 
			 Programme area 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 Hydro 138,000 60,000 130,000 200,000 85,000 0 
			 Solar 1,278,000 1,264,000 1,522,000 4,485,000 3,131,000 1,970,340 
			 Tidal 0 27,000 305,000 1,996,000 2,914,000 1,268,530 
			 Wave 11,000 331,000 662,000 748,000 2,104,000 — 
			 Wind 801,000 913,000 1,248,000 1,428,000 1,395,000 1,459,600 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. From 2000–01, figures do not include spend on contracts placed direct by DTI.
	2. For 2004–05, the figure for tidal is a combined spend for the wave and tidal.
	
		Figures for direct Government expenditure (but not including spending by the Research Councils) on nuclear fission £
		
			  1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 Nuclear 2,500,000 0 2,000,000 2,100,000 2,100,000 2,200,000 
			
			 DTI Capital Grant Programmes  
			 Offshore Wind Capital Grants — — — — 0 15,000,000 
			 Clear Skies Community Renewables — — — 200,000 1,387,000 2,413,000 
			 Major PV Demo Programme — — — 960,000 2,880,000 6,450,000 
		
	
	
		Research council spend £
		
			 Programme area 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–4 2004–5 
		
		
			 Solar 1,076,000 1,134,000 1,130,000 1,157,000 1,453,023 1,753,334 
			 Photovoltaic 2,759,517 2,991,977 3,536,428 2,770,354 2,381,044 2,761,866 
			 Wave and tidal 175,000 300,599 605,693 616,694 830,226 1,050,253 
			 Wind 177,716 260,596 330,283 490,447 481,572 255,672 
			 Wind/solar 21,000 100,000 0 0 0 0 
			 Wind/wave 28,000 28,000 28,000 28,000 28,000 28,000 
			 Fission power 61,793 127,562 324,879 307,195 212,239 125,453 
			 Fusion 14,300,000 17,000,000 14,400,000 14,600,000 15,630,000 19,530,000

Home Heating

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the change in home heating costs in each year since 2000–01; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: Changes in home heating costs since 2000–01 are shown in the following table:
	
		Average expenditure each week on fuel per consuming household(5)(6) United Kingdom
		
			  Electricity Gas 
			  All households Electric central heating No electric central heating All households Gas central heating No gas central heating Heating oils and other fuels Solid fuel All fuels 
		
		
			 2000–01 6.55 9.33 6.26 6.51 6.80 4.15 14.10 8.31 12.79 
			 2001–02 6.48 9.75 6.18 6.53 6.74 4.57 14.40 10.33 12.81 
			 2002–03 6.47 9.47 6.20 6.56 6.75 4.38 12.74 10.21 12.73 
			 2003–04 6.63 9.30 6.41 6.75 6.94 4.40 13.74 9.38 13.01 
		
	
	(5) Data is based on a survey and therefore sample sizes will vary from year to year, therefore lesser used fuels will have a greater sample error rate. Data shows average expenditure recorded in households consuming the specified fuel.
	(6) Prices are in cash terms, unadjusted for inflation.
	Source:
	ONS Expenditure and Food Survey.

Sustainable Development

Alan Reid: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment has been made of progress towards implementation of measures outlined in the last departmental sustainable development action plan; and what progress has been made against each target.

Malcolm Wicks: The DTI was the first Government department to produce its own Sustainable Development Strategy in 2000. The strategy identified where DTI can most make a difference in delivering the Governments Sustainable Development (SD) goals.
	Since 2000 we have focused on the priorities set out in the DTI SD Strategy, for example the Energy White Paper of 2003 set out four new goals for energy policy, including putting the UK on a path to cut carbon dioxide emissions by some 60 per cent. by 2050.
	Other priorities drawn out in the strategy were sustainable consumption and production (SCP), corporate social responsibility (CSR) and greening government. These have been taken forward through a number of initiatives—including publication in 2003 of "Changing Patterns—UK Government Framework for Sustainable Consumption and Production" and the new commitments set out in chapter 3 of the UK Sustainable Development Strategy ("Securing the Future", of March 2005); the launch of the CSR Academy and the International Strategic Framework on CSR. Work on Greening Government is on-going.
	SD is embedded in the DTI Business Plan, in objectives 4, 7 and 11.
	The strategy is being superseded by the SD Action Plan that is currently being developed.

Sustainable Development

Alan Reid: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he expects to publish the next departmental sustainable development action plan.

Malcolm Wicks: The DTIs Sustainable Development Action Plan is currently being developed.
	This is in line with the commitments laid down in "Securing the Future; delivering UK sustainable development strategy", of March 2005, that all Government departments and their executive agencies produce focused sustainable development action plans based on the Strategy by December 2005. All Government departments will report against the commitments laid down in their action plans from December 2006.

Armoured Vehicles

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many appliqué armour kits to protect the undersides of vehicles his Department has available for (a) Land Rovers, (b) Saxons and (c) Scimitars.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 25 October 2005
	Currently there are no appliqué armour kits available to protect the undersides of Land Rover and Saxon vehicles. 84 Scimitars have been fitted with appliqué armour and an Invitation to Tender has been issued for a further 100 sets to be manufactured and fitted over the next five years.

AWE Aldermaston

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much has been spent by his Department in each of the past five years on (a) running costs and (b) capital costs at AWE Aldermaston.

Adam Ingram: The information requested is shown in the following table.
	
		Atomic weapons establishment annual expenditure as at October 2005 £ million, 2005–06 prices
		
			  Running costs Capital costs Total 
		
		
			 2000–01 287 24 311 
			 2001–02 244 47 291 
			 2002–03 230 48 278 
			 2003–04 235 65 300 
			 2004–05 269 94 363

Child Benefit

Iris Robinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people have received child benefit in each of the Westminster constituencies in the Province in each of the last three years.

Dawn Primarolo: The number of families in receipt of child benefit and the number of children in these families for whom child benefit was received are shown in the table.
	
		Child benefit recipients and their children in Northern Ireland  Thousand
		
			  31 August 2002 31 August 2003 31 August 2004 
			 Westminster parliamentary constituency Number of families Number of children in these families Number of families Number of children in these families Number of families Number of children in these families 
		
		
			 Belfast East 9.2 16.8 9.0 16.4 9.1 16.1 
			 Belfast North 11.6 21.6 11.2 20.9 11.3 20.6 
			 Belfast South 9.2 17.7 9.0 17.3 9.1 17.1 
			 Belfast West 13.7 27.3 13.5 26.5 13.5 25.9 
			 East Antrim 11.2 20.4 11.1 20.2 11.3 20.3 
			 East Londonderry 11.6 22.4 11.3 21.8 11.6 21.8 
			 Fermanagh and South Tyrone 11.4 23.6 10.3 21.1 10.7 21.6 
			 Foyle 16.1 31.9 15.5 30.6 16.1 30.7 
			 Lagan Valley 13.4 25.3 13.3 25.1 13.6 25.3 
			 Mid Ulster 11.8 25.4 11.5 24.7 12.0 24.9 
			 Newry and Armagh 14.0 29.1 13.5 28.1 14.0 28.3 
			 North Antrim 13.3 25.5 13.1 25.2 13.5 25.5 
			 North Down 10.4 18.9 10.2 18.3 10.3 18.4 
			 South Antrim 13.4 25.1 13.4 25.1 13.7 25.3 
			 South Down 14.3 29.6 14.1 29.2 14.7 29.6 
			 Strangford 12.8 23.6 12.6 23.3 12.8 23.4 
			 Upper Bann 14.1 27.4 14.0 27.0 14.4 27.2 
			 West Tyrone 11.9 24.6 11.4 23.5 11.7 23.6 
			 Northern Ireland Unidentified 2.6 n/a 7.8 15.5 3.5 10.1 
		
	
	n/a = not available

Employees

Denis MacShane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of employees were in the (a) public sector and (b) private sector, on the latest date for which figures are available, broken down by region.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Karen Dunnell to Mr. Dennis MacShane, dated 31 October 2005
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about public and private sector employment.
	For countries and regions of the UK, the attached table shows estimates of the percentages of total employment in the public and private sectors. These figures, which cover the twelve months to June 2005, include self-employment in the private sector. They were published, on 28th October in the "Public Sector Employment Trends 2005" report which is available from the National Statistics website at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/article.asp?id=1293
	
		Public and private sector employment by region and country of workplace; average of four quarters to June 2005 Percentage
		
			  Public Private All in employment 
		
		
			 North East 23.7 76.3 100 
			 North West 21.5 78.5 100 
			 Yorks and Humber 20.3 79.7 100 
			 East Midlands 17.9 82.1 100 
			 West Midlands 19.5 80.5 100 
			 Eastern 18.6 81.4 100 
			 London 19.0 81.0 100 
			 South East 17.6 82.4 100 
			 South West 20.4 79.6 100 
			 England 19.5 80.5 100 
			 Wales 23.3 76.7 100 
			 Scotland 23.8 76.2 100 
			 Great Britain 20.1 79.9 100 
			 Northern Ireland 29.8 70.2 100 
			 United Kingdom 20.3 79.7 100 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The figure for the United Kingdom is derived from estimates in the ONS Public Sector Employment Quarter 2 First Release (published 30 September 2005).
	2. Northern Ireland data are based on information from the Quarterly Employment Survey and relate to the number of public sector jobs not the number of people working in the public sector. Data are expressed as a percentage of the total workplace employment level from the LFS in Northern Ireland. HM forces data are not included.
	3. Figures for the regions and countries within Great Britain have been produced using estimates from the Labour Force Survey. These have been constrained to the total UK public sector employment total so that estimates are in-line with National Accounts definitions of the public sector.
	Sources:
	Labour Force Survey, returns from public sector organisations (ONS) and Quarterly Employment Survey (DETINI).

Tax Credits

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been overpaid to tax credit recipients in the Kettering constituency in each year since tax credits were introduced; and how many tax credit recipients were involved.

Dawn Primarolo: For figures on tax credits that are repayable for recipients in Kettering constituency I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Mid-Bedfordshire (Mrs. Dorries) on the 10 October 2005, Official Report, column 322W.
	Estimates for 2003–04 of the numbers of in-work families with tax credits awards are published in "Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics. Finalised Annual Awards 2003–04". This publication and provisional estimates for the number of in-work families with tax credit awards as at selected dates in 2004–05 are available on the HMRC website at: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/cwtc-quarterly-stats.htm

Tax Credits

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the savings that will result from the phasing out of payment of tax credits through employers; and how many people will be affected.

Dawn Primarolo: Estimates of the savings and the number of people affected by the phasing out of payment of tax credits via employer can be found in "Regulatory Impact Assessment. The abolition of payment of Working Tax Credit via employers". This can be found on the HMRC website at: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ria/index.htm.

Youth Unemployment

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the level of youth unemployment has been in (a) Tamworth constituency, (b) Staffordshire, (c) the West Midlands and (d) the UK in each year since 1997.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Karen Dunnell to Mr. Brian Jenkins, dated 31 October 2005
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about youth unemployment. (22157)
	Table 1, attached, shows the total numbers of unemployed young people aged 16 to 24 who were resident in the Tamworth Parliamentary Constituency, Staffordshire, the West Midlands region and the UK. The table covers the 12 month periods ending in February each year from 1997 to 2004 and the 12 month period ending in March 2005. These estimates, as with any from sample surveys, are subject to sampling variability.
	The Office for National Statistics also compiles statistics for local areas of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance. Table 2, attached, shows the annual average number of ISA claimants, aged 18 to 24, resident in the Tamworth constituency, Staffordshire, the West Midlands region and the UK for 1997 to 2004.
	The data are published on the Office for National Statistics Nomis(r) website: www.nomisweb.co.uk.
	
		Table 1: Number of unemployed, aged 16 to 24, resident in the Tamworth constituency, Staffordshire, West Midlands Government Office Region and UK Thousand
		
			 12 months ending Tamworth Staffordshire West Midlands UK 
		
		
			 February: 
			 1997 (11)— 8 68 684 
			 1998 (11)— 7 57 616 
			 1999 1 5 56 583 
			 2000 (11)— 6 51 556 
			 2001 (11)— 5 57 535 
			 2002 (11)— 3 49 525 
			 2003 1 4 57 553 
			 2004 2 6 58 557 
			  
			 March: 
			 2005 1 6 58 559 
		
	
	(11) Disclosive sample size (less than three).
	Note:
	The estimates for local areas are based on very small sample sizes and are subject to a very high degree of sampling variability. Changes from year to year, especially, should be treated with caution.
	Source:
	Annual local area Labour Force Survey; Annual Population Survey
	
		Table 2: JSA claimants, aged 18 to 24, resident in the Tamworth constituency, Staffordshire, West Midlands Government Office Region and UK
		
			 Annual averages Tamworth Staffordshire West Midlands UK 
		
		
			 1997 505 3,990 38,235 406,415 
			 1998 430 3,360 32,540 339,000 
			 1999 415 3,080 29,965 294,125 
			 2000 370 2,725 27,490 261,470 
			 2001 325 2,575 25,370 241,220 
			 2002 315 2,470 24,825 242,930 
			 2003 310 2,370 26,265 249,055 
			 2004 290 2,135 25,215 235,910 
		
	
	Note:
	Computerised claims only. Data rounded to nearest 5 for disclosure control.
	Source:
	Jobcentre Plus Administrative system

Council Tax Benefit

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department is taking to make it easier to claim council tax benefit.

James Plaskitt: We want support to be as automatic as possible for everyone entitled to council tax benefit, but pensioners are our first priority.
	The Pension Service is already telephoning existing customers nationwide who do not appear to be getting council tax benefit and filling in a simple three page claim form on their behalf. All the customer has to do is spend about three minutes with us on the phone and then sign the form and send it to their local authority.
	And, from December the Pension Service will take council tax benefit claims over the phone at the same time as new Pension Credit claims.

Energy Efficiency

Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what targets he has for improving energy efficiency in his Department; and how he intends to achieve these targets.

Nick Ainger: In June 2003 the Wales Office became a separate entity within the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA). The DCA has a commitment to source at least 10 per cent. electricity from renewable sources by 31 March 2008. This has been achieved for the last two years.
	The Wales Office shares the DCA targets for improving energy efficiency, which can be found on the following link
	http://www.dca.gov.uk/dept/sustaindev/sustaindev.htmpart5

London Olympics

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she plans to publish the funding plan for the Olympics agreed by the Government, the Lottery regulator and the Lottery operator.

Tessa Jowell: holding answer 27 October 2005
	We made our plans clear in our response to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, "A London Olympic Bid for 2012" published in June 2003 (HC 268). They provide for up to £1.5 billion of lottery funds for the London Olympics.

Burma

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he supports the findings of the recent Havel report proposing United Nations Security Council intervention in Burma.

Douglas Alexander: We have studied the report entitled "Threat to the Peace: A Call for the UN Security Council to Act in Burma", commissioned by Vaclav Havel and Desmond Tutu. We fully support any action in the UN Security Council which would help promote reform and positive change in Burma.
	We agree that the UN has a vital role to play in Burma. We strongly support the UN Secretary General's efforts to promote national reconciliation in Burma; as well as the work of the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Burma, Professor Sergio Pinheiro, and the UN Secretary General's Special Envoy to Burma, Tan Sri Razali.

Leasehold Reform Act

Robert Key: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what guidance he has issued on whether the provisions of the Leasehold Reform Act 2002 relating to leasehold enfranchisement apply to (a) rented flats and (b) rented houses owned by English cathedrals which are subject to charity legislation.

Yvette Cooper: The leasehold enfranchisement provisions in the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, which amended existing enfranchisement provisions, are only available to long leaseholders (those with leases which were granted for a term exceeding 21 years), and do not apply to renting tenants.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has produced a booklet entitled "Residential Long Leaseholders—A guide to your rights and responsibilities". This booklet sets out who is eligible to enfranchise and where exceptions apply, and is available from ODPM Publications, PO Box No. 236, Wetherby, LS23 7NB Telephone 0870 1226 236.

Policies (Financial Support)

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what costings of (a) Conservative, (b) Labour and (c) Liberal Democrat policies his Department has (i) undertaken, (ii) co-ordinated and (iii) advised upon in the last 12 months; and in respect of which policies.

Jim Fitzpatrick: In accordance with Cabinet Office guidance, costings were carried out at the request of Ministers of some of the policies set out in the Conservative documents "Home Truths: the Right to Own" and "Better Public Services, Better Value".
	No costings were undertaken of Liberal Democrat policies.
	Labour policies were costed as part of the work undertaken on behalf of Ministers to implement those policies.

Regional Fire Control

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will publish (a) a cost-benefit analysis and (b) the regulatory impact assessment for the Government's plans to establish regional fire control rooms in England outside London.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has already published a cost-benefit analysis of the FiReControl project. This is available on the FiReControl website (www.firecontrol.odpm.gov.uk) as the "Economic Case" section of the project's Outline Business Case. After the technology/infrastructure services procurement is completed, it will be possible to produce a Full Business Case containing actual costs for the infrastructure.
	Prior to April 2004, regulatory impact assessments (RIAs) were not required for any proposal that had an impact solely on public services. When the policy decision to proceed with the FiReControl project was announced to the house on 4 March 2004, it was determined that the proposals to establish regional fire control rooms in England met this criterion. For this reason, no RIA was developed.

Arson

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the cost to the Government of arson in (a) England and Wales and (b) Essex in the last year for which figures are available.

Jim Fitzpatrick: I have been asked to reply.
	The most recent available information is for 2003 and is tabled as follows. For that year the total cost of arson to the economy in England and Wales was an estimated £2,849 million, of which 28 per cent. (£806 million) was incurred by the public sector. The biggest single element of public sector expenditure was in funding the Fire and Rescue Service to respond to arson fires, which cost an estimated £642 million in 2003.
	Within the Essex Fire and Rescue Authority area, the total cost of arson fires in 2003 was estimated £56 million, of which £12 million was incurred by the public sector (including £6 million fire service response costs; and £4 million resulting from fire damage in public sector buildings).
	
		Costs of arson, 2003 £ million
		
			  England and Wales Essex 
		
		
			 Total cost of deliberate fires to the economy 2,849 56 
			
			 Total of deliberate fires to the public sector 806 12 
			 Costs in anticipation:   
			 Fire safety 16 0.3 
			 Consequential costs:   
			 Criminal justice system costs 87 2 
			 Property fire damage to public sector  buildings (eg schools, hospitals,  government property) 61 4 
			 Response costs:   
			 Cost of fire service attendance 642 6

Criminal Injuries Compensation

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what percentage of applications for compensation under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2001 have been successful in each year of its operation;

Fiona Mactaggart: The success rate (percentage of applications attracting a monetary award) in the four years 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04 and 2004–05 was 57 per cent., 55 per cent., 55 per cent. and 54 per cent. respectively.

Prisons

Rudi Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which routes of complaint are open to prisoners held in the (a) public sector prison estate and (b) private prison estate to make formal complaints about the health and medical services.

Fiona Mactaggart: Prisoners have access to the national health service complaints process in prisons where the NHS commissions health services. Prison Service Instruction 14/2005, "Handling Complaints about Prison Health Care", which provides the relevant guidance, is available op the Prison Service website at www.hmprisonservice.gov.uk/resourcecentre/psispsos/listpsis.
	Work is under way with the Health Service Ombudsman, the Prison and Probation Ombudsman and the Health Care Commission to ensure that an equivalent complaints process is in place for prisoners in contracted prisons.

Elections

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many complaints she has received from individuals in relation to being unable to vote in (a) local, (b) general and (c) European elections in each year since 1997; and if she will make a statement.

Harriet Harman: This information is not systematically collected or permanently recorded. However, In 2005, complaints were received from individuals in respect of being unable to vote in the general election held this year as set out as follows.
	
		
			 Category Number 
		
		
			 Non-registration 61 
			 Postal voting time limits 34 
			 Non-eligibility of foreign nationals 15 
			 Minimum age too high 15 
			 Overseas voters, limitation of eligibility 12 
			 Administrative errors 5 
			 Convicted and detained prisoners 4 
			 Non-receipt of pollcard 4 
			 Other 5

Ethnic Minorities

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what assessment she has made of the likely impact of the recommendations in the Legal Services Commission's consultation paper "Improving Value for Money" on the number of ethnic minorities carrying out publicly-funded legal work in London.

Harriet Harman: The Legal Services Commission (LSC) is strongly committed to promoting diversity within the supplier base and is aware of the concerns of small black and minority ethnic (BME) firms providing London based criminal defence services.
	The potential impact of competitive tendering upon BME firms was raised in the consultation paper "Improving value for money for publicly funded criminal defence services in London", published in January 2005. The LSC has been working closely with both BME suppliers and their representative bodies throughout the consultation process to address any concerns they may have.
	The LSC have also commissioned research into the issues faced by BME firms within the legal aid supplier base. This research will help to cultivate further measures to protect small black and minority ethnic suppliers against unfair discrimination and is expected to report this month.

Legal Aid

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what research has been commissioned on the reasons for individuals opting to take up legal aid.

Bridget Prentice: No recent research has been commissioned by the Department of Constitutional Affairs or the Legal Services Commission specifically on the reasons for individuals opting to take up legal aid. However, studies tasked with investigating other aspects of the justice system do occasionally include some consideration of the reasons for take-up of legal aid.
	Additionally, the Legal Aid Board—which predated the Legal Services Commission—published a "Study into Reasons for Refusal of Offers of Contributory Civil Legal Aid" in 1994.

Antisocial Behaviour

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many antisocial behaviour orders have been issued in Northern Ireland since their introduction, broken down by parliamentary constituency.

David Hanson: Five interim antisocial behaviour orders on application have been granted in Northern Ireland to date; one in the Belfast city council area, two in the Larne borough council area, and two in the Coleraine borough council area. Data is not collected by parliamentary constituency.
	Information on antisocial behaviour orders by conviction is not collected centrally and would be available only at disproportionate cost. It is intended that this information will be captured by the Northern Ireland court service through their Integrated Court Operation System (ICOS) which is due to be rolled out from early next year.

Assets Recovery Agency

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much (a) property and (b) other assets have been (i) frozen and (ii) recovered in Northern Ireland by the Assets Recovery Agency.

Shaun Woodward: The amount of property and other assets frozen and recovered in Northern Ireland by the Assets Recovery Agency is detailed in the following table:
	
		
			£ million 
			  Assets frozen Assets recovered Receipts 
		
		
			 March 2003–04 3.1 (13)(14)— (14)0.002 
			 2004–05 3.7 1.4 0.7 
			 2005–06(15) 1.7 0.1 0.4 
		
	
	(13) None
	(14) First full year of operation
	(15) To date

Breast Cancer

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what research has been carried out by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to ascertain the success rate in the Province for the treatment of breast cancer.

Shaun Woodward: The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety funds the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry (NICR), which undertakes a wide range of statistical research into success rates for the treatment of various cancers, including breast cancer. It has recently published a major report on breast cancer which is a further significant step in the evaluation of cancer care here—"Gavin A, Kinnear H, Fitzpatrick D, Ranaghan L, 2005. Cancer Services Audit 1996 & 2001, Breast. N. Ireland Cancer Registry". In addition, the Research and Development Office (RDO), which is also funded by my Department, established a Cancer Recognised Research Group in 2000–01. This comprises 15 research programmes in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancers. A number of individual research projects currently funded by the RDO are specifically related to breast cancer treatment.
	The success rate for the treatment of breast cancer is dependent on a range of factors including the stage of the disease at diagnosis. Latest published figures from NICR, based on persons diagnosed in the period 1996–99, show that the one-year relative survival rate for breast cancer is 95.2 per cent. while the five-year relative survival rate is 81.5 per cent. These rates are very good in comparison with other cancers but the fact that survival is already high makes it more difficult to measure improvements over time.

Breast Cancer

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what action the Department of Health, social services and public safety is taking to reduce waiting times for women with breast disease who have been referred to a specialist by their general practitioner; and if he will make a statement.

Shaun Woodward: In Northern Ireland, patients with suspected breast cancer are expected to be assessed by a specialist within two weeks of urgent referral by their GP. The Department of Health, social services and public safety is working with Health and Social Services Boards and Trusts on an ongoing basis to ensure compliance with this target.

Computer Theft

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the Answer to question 19587, what action was taken between 2001 and 2005 in relation to the five cases of computer theft from his Department where all legal proceedings have been completed.

Shaun Woodward: There have been no legal proceedings in relation to the five cases of computer theft.

Costello Working Group

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  if he will list the dates of minuted meetings held by the Costello Working Group;
	(2)  if he will list the titles of discussion papers commissioned by the Costello Working Group;
	(3)  if he will place in the Library of the House copies of the (a) minutes and (b) discussion papers produced by the Costello Working Group.

Angela Smith: All meetings of the Post-Primary Review Working Group were minuted. The meetings took place on the following dates in 2003; 5, 12, 19/20 June; 2/3 July; 13/14, 28 August; 4/5, 10/11, 18, 29/30 September; 3, 8, 14, 28 October; and 6, 14, 21, 28 November. I have arranged for copies of the published minutes to be placed in the Library.
	At its 5th meeting on 13 and 14 August, the Group asked the secretariat to prepare a discussion paper on the various issues identified at that meeting. A paper entitled "Strategic Policy Framework", was considered at the meeting on 28 August. The Working Group did not produce discussion papers.

Firearms

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) deaths and (b) incidents of serious injury involving legally held firearms, excluding Police Service Northern Ireland and army firearms, there were in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years.

Shaun Woodward: The Chief Constable has advised me that their Central Statistics Unit and Firearms and Explosives Branch do not hold records or statistics that would enable this question to be answered.

Foster Carers

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many registered foster carers there have been in Northern Ireland in each of the last 10 years.

Shaun Woodward: The routine collection of data by the Department on the numbers of registered foster carers in Northern Ireland commenced in 2001. In addition, a figure is available for 1997 from a fostering inspection report published by the Social Services Inspectorate showing that at that time there were 1,380 foster carers in Northern Ireland. The available data is presented in the following table:
	
		Registered foster carers at quarter ending June
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 2001 1,137 
			 2002 1,210 
			 2003 1,192 
			 2004 1,248 
			 2005 1,308

Health Authority Finances

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the cumulative deficit is for each strategic health authority in the Province; and if he will make a statement.

Shaun Woodward: Strategic health authorities do not exist in Northern Ireland. Their nearest equivalent is Health and Social Services Boards. The four boards are required to achieve at least a financial break-even position each financial year and I can confirm that none of the four have incurred a cumulative deficit.

Meningococcal Infection

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many confirmed cases of meningococcal infection there have been in each NHS board area in each of the last five years.

Shaun Woodward: The number of confirmed cases of meningococcal infection within each Health Board for the last five years are shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Health Board 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005(17) 
		
		
			 Eastern 27 22 20 23 16 
			 Northern 27 28 33 18 13 
			 Southern 12 22 18 13 11 
			 Western 15 11 12 16 6 
			 Northern Ireland 81 83 83 70 46 
		
	
	(17) Figures for 2005 are up until the last confirmed case, 26 October 2005.
	Notes:
	1. Information is based on Enhanced Surveillance of Meningococcal Disease.
	2. Figures relate to calendar years.
	Source:
	Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre NI (CDSCNI).

NHS Dentistry

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average waiting time was for access to NHS dental services in Northern Ireland in 2004–05.

Shaun Woodward: The majority of health service dentistry is carried out by general dental practitioners who are independent contractors. Information on waiting lists for these services is not held centrally.
	Waiting lists are collected for inpatients (both ordinary admissions and day cases) awaiting admission to NHS hospitals and outpatients awaiting their first appointment in an NHS hospital. This information is collected by specialty and by time band. It is therefore not possible to calculate the arithmetic mean (average) length of time waiting. It is however possible to identify the median or mid point waiting time band:
	(a) The median waiting time for inpatients who were waiting in the oral surgery or paediatric dentistry specialties at 30 June 2005 was 0–2 months.
	(b) The median waiting time for outpatients who were waiting for their first appointment at 30 June 2005 was 3–5 months in the paediatric dentistry or orthodontics specialties and was 6–8 months in the oral surgery or restorative dentistry specialties.

Paramilitary Groups

Adam Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he plans to take to encourage loyalist paramilitary organisations to decommission their weapons.

Shaun Woodward: On 26 September 2005 the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning determined that the IRA had met its commitment to put all its arms beyond use in a manner called for by the legislation. The report recognised that the arms of the loyalist paramilitary groups, as well as other paramilitary organisations, remains to be addressed.
	You will recall that on 21 September 2005 the Secretary of State announced that David Hanson would be taking the lead on engaging with representatives from the protestant/loyalist communities.
	As well as socio-economic measures, there will continue to be engagement with political representatives of loyalism.
	But be in no doubt, there will continue to be a robust security response to loyalist criminality.
	It is essential that we continue to build upon the encouraging signs reported by the Independent Monitoring Commission in their assessment of 19 October and that all paramilitary groups fully decommission their weapons. We call on all those with influence to help bring this to an early conclusion.

Police

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many officers from police forces in (a) England, (b) Scotland and (c) Wales have taken up duties with the police in Northern Ireland in the last three years.

Shaun Woodward: Information held centrally does not disclose what police force officers left to join PSNI. To obtain this information would involve a manual trawl of records held by the PSNI recruitment contractor and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	A total of 54 Officers have been recruited on a permanent basis as follows:
	41 officers recruited via recruitment competitions for Constables (50/50) who were from other UK police forces.
	10 Detective Constables were appointed from other UK forces having been successful in a competition run by Consensia in 2003. The purpose of this competition was to address experiential gaps prevailing at that time in the organisation.
	Three officers entered in ranks other than Constable via our nationally advertised promotion competitions. All entered at the rank of Sergeant. All three came from the metropolitan police service.
	In addition six officers have been seconded in this period, including two recently seconded Chief Inspectors to the Historical Enquiry Team.

Redundancies

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what the total cost of redundancy packages has been in each of the education and library boards in each of the last three years. (21236)

Angela Smith: The information provided in the following table are the costs in respect of compulsory and voluntary redundancies for non-teaching staff in each of the education and library boards and includes school based and non-school based staff. The costs include redundancy pay, compensatory lump sum and actuarial costs. The long term savings for each board as a result of these redundancies will be significantly in excess of the redundancy costs.
	
		Redundancy costs £
		
			  2003–04 2004–05 2005–06(21) 
		
		
			 NEELB 28,652 95,022 103,583 
			 BELB 335,000 1,416,000 873,000 
			 SELB 72,265 223,985 841,955 
			 WELB 108,742 316,137 256,567 
			 SEELB 62,635 1,010,384 567,965 
			 Total 607,294 3,061,528 2,643,070 
		
	
	(21) Not all invoices from NILGOSC in respect of actuarial costs for redundancies in 2005–06 have yet been received.

A-level Examiners

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 10 October 2005, Official Report, column 334W, on A-level examiners, what qualifications are required in order to become an examiner at A-level; and how many qualified A-level examiners were employed (a) in 2005 and (b) in each year since 1996.

Jacqui Smith: A-Level examiners are employed by the awarding bodies. The awarding bodies have a duty to fulfil the obligations placed upon them by the exams regulators' code of practice.
	The code of practice states that candidates work should be marked by 'suitably experienced and trained' examiners. The code also requires stringent training, sampling and monitoring of markers performance. The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority is the regulatory body in England responsible for ensuring that awarding bodies fulfil their obligations.
	No data is collated by the Department on the number of A-Level examiners contracted by the awarding bodies. This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Attainment Standards

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the effect of the city academies on standards; and how standards are measured.

Jacqui Smith: The Department has commissioned PricewaterhouseCoopers to undertake an independent five-year evaluation of the Academies Programme, reporting finally in September 2007. The Second Annual Report from this evaluation, published in June, demonstrated that academies have made a significant difference to the teaching and learning culture from their predecessors. Provisional GCSE examination results data show a strong performance, with the average academy improving at 5 per cent. per year of opening, five academies improving by over 20 per cent. since opening and an overall improvement rate of at least 6.6 per cent. this year. At key stage 3, the rate of increase in pupils gaining level 5+ between 2004 and 2005 is higher in each subject than schools nationally.
	Standards in academies are measured through inspections by Ofsted and by our own education advisers. Ofsted have conducted 13 monitoring visits to academies, finding that five academies were making good progress and most were making at least satisfactory progress. In addition, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools, David Bell said in August about standards in academies that
	"in some cases, what has been achieved in a short time is nothing less than remarkable."

Building Schools for the Future

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what plans she has to implement the Building Schools for the Future programme for (a) primary and (b) comprehensive schools in Hartlepool constituency;
	(2)  what scope there is for sixth form colleges to undertake capital building projects as part of the Building Schools for the Future programme.

Jacqui Smith: Building Schools for the Future (BSF) aims to renew all secondary schools of any category in England in the next 15 years. Investment is prioritised on social and educational need, and we have informed Hartlepool of our ambition that it should enter the programme in waves four to six, which should be by 2011 at the latest.
	BSF does not support investment in primary schools or sixth form colleges, for which other funding is available. In the March budget, the Chancellor announced additional funding of £150 million for primary schools from 2008–09, rising to £500 million by 2009–10, with the aim that at least half of all primary schools will be renewed in the next 15 years. I aim to announce further details of this programme later this year.
	Sixth form colleges are funded through the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). From 2006–07, there is a new joint schools and LSC budget for investment in post-16 provision, which will be administered by the LSC. This reaches £180 million by 2007–08, including £100 million from schools capital. The chancellor's budget statement also strengthened the government's commitment to the further education sector by announcing new capital funding of £100 million for the sector in 2008–08, rising to £250 million in 2009–10.

CAFCASS

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many staff have been employed by Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service in each year since its foundation.

Maria Eagle: This is a matter for the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS). Anthony Douglas, the CAFCASS chief executive, will write to the hon. Member with this information and a copy of his reply will be placed in the House Library.

CAFCASS

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what percentage of current (a) public and (b) private cases remained unallocated to Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Services officers for 10 weeks or longer.

Maria Eagle: This is a matter for the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS). Anthony Douglas, the CAFCASS chief executive, will write to the hon. Member with this information and a copy of his reply will be placed in the House Library.

Child Abuse

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  how much public funding has been allocated to public education campaigns to prevent child abuse in each year since 1997;
	(2)  what plans she has for public education campaigns to prevent child abuse;
	(3)  what studies have been commissioned by her Department to assess the effectiveness of public education campaigns to prevent child abuse since 1997.

Maria Eagle: The Department for Education and Skills has not engaged in any public education campaigns since taking responsibility for children's safeguards and welfare in 2003. We have no current plans to run any such campaigns. Our principal role is in increasing awareness of child abuse among people who work with children. We work closely on this with the NSPCC, ChildLine and a wide range of other voluntary organisations.
	The Government's guidance documents "Working Together to Safeguard Children (1999), What to do if you you're worried a child is being abused", and most recently "Statutory guidance on making arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children under section 11 of the Children Act 2004" set out the roles and responsibilities of practitioners who work with children, and of a wide range of organisations, to promote children's welfare and safeguard them from harm. The Government plan to publish an updated version of "Working Together" later this year.
	The "Every Child Matters: Change for Children programme" aims to put in place a national framework to support the joining up of services so that every child can achieve the five Every Child Matters outcomes. As part of this, Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs) will be established from April 2006 with the objective of co-ordinating and ensuring the effectiveness of key local agencies in their work to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. The Government are proposing in draft regulations and guidance that LSCBs should have a function of communicating the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area and raising awareness of how this can best be done.
	Funding support for voluntary organisations has been provided under the Safeguarding Children and Supporting Families grant scheme and from April 2006, this will be available from its successor programme, the Children, Young People and Families Grant Programme. This new funding programme will support the Every Child Matters outcomes for children.
	The Government have not commissioned any studies to assess the effectiveness of public education campaigns.

Child Abuse

Lynda Waltho: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will fund public awareness campaigns aimed at ensuring that all adults are informed about what to do if they are concerned that a child is at risk of abuse or neglect.

Maria Eagle: The Department for Education and Skills has no current plans to run any public information campaigns. Our principal role is in increasing awareness of child abuse among people who work with children. We work closely on this with the NSPCC, ChildLine and a wide range of other voluntary organisations.
	The Government's guidance documents "Working Together to Safeguard Children (1999), What to do if you you're worried a child is being abused", and most recently "Statutory guidance on making arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children under section 11 of the Children Act 2004" set out the roles and responsibilities of practitioners who work with children, and of a wide range of organisations, to promote children's welfare and safeguard them from harm. The Government plan to publish an updated version of "Working Together" later this year.
	Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs) will be established from April 2006 with the objective of co-ordinating and ensuring the effectiveness of key local agencies in their work to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. The Government are proposing in draft regulations and guidance that LSCBs should have a function of communicating the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area and raising awareness of how this can best be done.
	Funding support for voluntary organisations has been provided under the Safeguarding Children and Supporting Families grant scheme and from April 2006, this will be available from its successor programme, the Children, Young People and Families Grant Programme. This new funding programme will support the Every Child Matters outcomes for children.

Departmental Initiatives

Brooks Newmark: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of her Department's budget has been spent on targeted initiatives such as Respect and Aim Higher in each of the last five years.

Bill Rammell: The amount of money spent on Aim Higher in each of the last five years is set out in the following table:
	
		Table 1: Aim Higher spending £ millions
		
			  Amount spent on initiative 
		
		
			 2000–01 0 
			 2001–02 50 
			 2002–03 69.5 
			 2003–04 73 
			 2004–05 126 
		
	
	Note:
	The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) ran and funded a separate university outreach programme until August 2004, 'Partnerships for Progression'. From August 2004, HEFCE and LSC funding is included in the above figures as the programme merged with Aim Higher.
	The budget for Respect has not yet been allocated. For information on other programmes and on overall departmental spending I refer the hon. Member to the departmental annual report (Cm 6522).

Departmental Staff

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the rates of employee absence in her Department have been in each year since 1997.

Maria Eagle: My Department remains committed to managing sickness absence effectively and to putting in place the recommendations of the recently published report "Managing Sickness Absence in the Public Sector11.
	I refer the right hon. Gentleman to the figures contained in the annual report "Analysis of Sickness Absence in the Civil Service" published by the Cabinet Office. Table A of the report gives details of both the average working days absence per staff year and the number of staff years on which that calculation is based. The most recent report is for the calendar year 2003 and was announced by Ministerial Statement on 1 November and copies placed in the Libraries of the House. Reports for 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002 are also available in the Library and on the Cabinet Office website at: http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/management of the civil service/conditions of service/occupational health/publications/index.asp.

Further Education

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much funding will be allocated to the learner support funds in further education in (a) 2005–06 and (b) 2006–07; and if she will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) is funded by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) through an annual Grant Letter that sets out the LSC's key priorities. The operational delivery of individual programmes, taking account of these priorities and the funding made available by the Department, is a matter for the LSC.
	The table details the LSC's allocations for learner support funding in 2005–06, and the amount the Department will make available to the LSC for learner support funding in 2006–07. All amounts are rounded to the nearest £1 million, and totals exclude expected receipts on the CDL programme.
	
		
			  £ million 
			 Name of programme 2005–06 2006–07 
		
		
			 The Learner Support Fund(35) 122 125 
			 Care 2 Learn 23 23 
			 Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA)(36) 403 511 
			 Dance and Drama Awards 14 14 
			 Adult Learning Grant 14 19 
			 Career Development Loans (CDLs)(37) 20 19 
			 Total 596 711 
		
	
	(35) The Learner Support Fund provides support with hardship funds (e.g. for books or equipment), transport funds, residential bursaries (to support students who need to live away from home), and support with child care costs for those aged 19 and over.
	(36) EMA is an incentive payment that encourages school leavers to stay on in non advanced full-time education. It is not intended to support the living costs of young people and/or their parents or carers. EMA is funded through HM Treasury's Annual Managed Expenditure (AME), whereas the rest of learner support funding is within the DfES Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL).
	(37) Distribution of resources for CDLs reflects planned expenditure on development work signalled in the first Skills Strategy White Paper.

Information-sharing Protocols

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list local authorities which have final information-sharing protocols in place for dealing with children.

Beverley Hughes: The Green Paper "Every Child Matters", published in September 2003, required local authorities to meet nine minimum requirements in relation to information sharing. These included putting in place information sharing protocols, covering health, education and social care; and to have them in development with other agencies providing services to children and young people by March 2004. All 150 top-tier local authorities were provided with funding in the financial year 2003–04 to meet these requirements.
	Independent research by Royal Holloway, University of London, reported that by March 2004, 87 (65 per cent.) authorities had met the requirement. 29 (22 per cent.) of authorities were assessed as being 'well ahead' because they had protocols that were signed by health, education, social care and other agencies. 43 (32 per cent.) authorities were assessed as being a 'bit behind' when protocols had yet to be agreed at a high level.
	Acknowledging the challenge in meeting the requirements to the original deadline, we allowed local authorities to carry over unspent funds into the financial year 2004–05. We commissioned Royal Holloway to do a further check on authorities in July 2004, which indicated that significant progress had been made. At this point, less than 10 per cent. were identified as 'a bit behind'.
	We have not made any subsequent detailed checks on authorities about whether they have met the requirements and have no plans to do so. We continue to encourage local authorities to develop effective information sharing arrangements and, partly in response to calls from local authorities, we plan to provide them with non-statutory guidance on information sharing across all children's services early in the new year.

Intelligent Design

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools in England teach a course in which intelligent design forms a unit.

Jacqui Smith: Intelligent design does not form part of any programme of study in the national curriculum. In science pupils should be taught at Key Stage 4 "how scientific controversies can arise from different ways of interpreting empirical evidence [for example, Darwin's theory of evolution]". Although it is possible that intelligent design could be raised in this context, controversies need to be scientific in order to meet national curriculum requirements.
	Intelligent design may be taught in religious education lessons as a religious interpretation of how the world was created. All religious education syllabuses are devised by local authorities, so statistics are not held centrally.

Special Educational Needs

Adam Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the impact of the closure of special schools on overall provision of special education.

Maria Eagle: A targeted review of the role of special schools was carried out in 2003 which resulted in the Report of the Special Schools Working Group: the majority of the report's recommendations were subsequently embodied in the Department's SEN Strategy—"Removing Barriers to Achievement". We believe special schools have an important role to play within the overall spectrum of provision for children with SEN—both through direct provision and through sharing their expertise with mainstream schools.
	Under the Education Act 1996, local authorities are under a duty to secure sufficient schools for pupils in their area and in doing so must have particular regard to the need to secure special educational provision. Ofsted inspects the quality of educational provision for children with SEN, including specialist provision. Within this framework how provision is organised is a matter for local decision, and for that reason, Government plays no role in relation to local authority school reorganisations or in respect of decisions to close schools.

University Graduates

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of students starting a degree course graduated in each academic year since 1997.

Bill Rammell: The latest available figures for the percentage of full-time first degree students expected to gain a degree are shown in the following table. For 2002/03, 78.1 per cent. of UK domiciled full-time first degree students at English higher education institutions were expected to gain a degree, 1.7 per cent. to gain a higher education qualification other than a degree, 6.1 per cent. were expected to transfer to another institution, and 13.9 per cent. were expected to neither obtain a qualification nor transfer.
	
		Percentage of UK domiciled full-time first degree students at English higher education institutions expected to gain a degree
		
			  Students starting courses in: Percentage of students who were projected to gain a degree(40) 
		
		
			 1997 76.9 
			 1998 77.4 
			 1999 77.4 
			 2000 78.1 
			 2001 78.4 
			 2002 78.1 
		
	
	(40) For 2002/03, the projected outcomes summarise the pattern of movements of students at institutions between 2002/03 and 2003/04 and give the outcomes that would have been expected from starters in 2002/03 if progression patterns were to remain unchanged over the next few years.
	Source:
	"Performance Indicators in Higher Education", published by HESA.

Youth Services

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much public funding was available for youth services in (a) Wimbledon constituency, (b) Greater London and (c) England in each year since 1997.

Phil Hope: Youth services are funded through the local authority and information about the level of funding is collected by local education authority (LEA) area. This information has only been available separately since 2000. Therefore, I am in a position to give funding levels for the youth service in England as a whole, and for the youth service within London, and Wimbledon by LEA area, in this case Merton, from that date.
	Figures in the following table give local authorities annual budget for youth service. Planned budgeted expenditure on the youth service as reported to the Department by local authorities has increased by almost 12 per cent. between 2003/04 and 2005/06.
	Youth service funding levels are as follows:
	
		
			£ 
			 Financial year England London Wimbledon (Merton) LEA 
		
		
			 2000–01 288,026,510 57,239,674 552,277 
			 2001–02 306,761,605 60,662,048 575,729 
			 2002–03 316,288,138 65,838,535 605,730 
			 2003–04 343,364,777 67,393,083 806,830 
			 2004–05 363,095,777 65,839,152 809,020 
			 2005–06 383,662,949 69,415,404 847,028

"Your Health, Your Care, Your Say" Consultation

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what public meetings she has planned to participate in personally as part of the "Your Health, Your Care, Your Say" consultation exercise.

Liam Byrne: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, attended the "Your Health, Your Care, Your Say" regional consultation event in Leicester on 22 September and a meeting organised by her constituency office on 7 October. My noble Friend the Minister of State (Lord Warner), was present at a regional event in London on 29 September and I attended the regional event in Gateshead on 14 September.
	My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, together with my noble Friend the Minister of State (Lord Warner), my right hon. Friend the Minister of State (Jane Kennedy), my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Public Health (Caroline Flint) and I plan to attend the national "citizens' summit" in Birmingham on 29 October 2005.

"Your Health, Your Care, Your Say" Consultation

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what questions are being asked by the "Your Health, Your Care, Your Say" consultation exercise.

Liam Byrne: The questions are set out in the reports from the Gateshead, Leicester, London and Plymouth consultation events, copies of which are available in the Library.

"Your Health, Your Care, Your Say" Consultation

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) general practitioners, (b) voluntary organisations, (c) community hospital managers and (d) public and patient involvement forums took part in "Your Health, Your Care, Your Say" regional consultations in (i) England and (ii) Thames Valley.

Liam Byrne: The "Your Health, Your Care, Your Say" regional consultation events are primarily for the public. 21 of the 251 people who attended the events in Gateshead, Leicester, London and Plymouth indicated that they worked in health or social care. Figures for the national summit in Birmingham on 29 October and events in the Thames Valley area are not available. National health service and social care organisations, including national staff representative bodies and the voluntary sector, are involved in drawing up policy recommendations through five taskforces, which are taking on board the views expressed by the public at the consultation events and in an on-line questionnaire. We have also written to national staff representative bodies, encouraging them to work with staff to discuss the issues and to feedback to the Department.

Alzheimer's (Drugs)

Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the progress the National Service Framework for Older People is making in ensuring people with Alzheimer's have effective treatment and support.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 17 October 2005
	The national service framework (NSF) for older people considered the range of services and support needed for older people with dementia. However, despite the significant achievements of the NSF for mental health and older people, there was agreement that there were particular challenges in delivering better mental health services for older adults.
	As a result, in June 2005 the Department published "Securing Better Mental Health for Older Adults" to mark the start of a new programme bringing together mental health and older people's policy to improve services for older people with mental health needs. In early November this year, the Department will also launch a web-based service development guide for older people's mental health, the next step in improving mental health and care services for older people. The service development guide builds on the service models outlined in the NSF for older people and the principles promoted in "Securing Better Mental Health for Older Adults".

Care Homes

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the Answer of 19 July 2005, Official Report, column 1662W, concerning care homes, for what reason the figures for later years is not comparable with earlier years.

Liam Byrne: The Department's and the Commission for Social Care Inspection's (CSCI) data are not comparable for the following reasons.
	Due to a delay in registering local authority (LA) care homes by the National Care Standards Commission, the CSCI data excludes some LA homes, which were open but not registered. All local authority homes were registered by 31 March 2004.
	A change in definition between the two datasets. The Department's data up to 2001 was based on the number of care homes open as at 31 March, whereas the CSCI data is based on the number of care homes registered as at 31 March.
	The Department used to collect care home data from LA so were able to provide data by LA boundary, whereas CSCI data is collected as part of the registration process and is based on CSCI regions. CSCI have recently carried out a mapping process of care homes to LA boundaries using postcodes.

Care Management Assessments

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether she has issued guidance on the maximum permissible time between referral and a care management assessment by a social services Department; and what the average time taken between referral and a care management assessment was in each local authority in England in the last period for which figures are available.

Liam Byrne: In "Improvement, Expansion and Reform: the next 3 years", the Department sets out what organisations need to do over the period 2003–06. It identified national priorities and targets which health and social care organisations need to build into their local plans. One of the targets was that, by December 2004, all assessments of older people should begin within 48 hours of first contact with social services.
	Information on the average time between referral and care management assessment is not available.
	Information on the percentage of new clients aged 18 and over whose assessment started during the year by length of time from first contact with social services to start of assessment has been placed in the Library.

Direct Payments (Social Care)

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to expand the use of direct payments in social care services.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 21 October 2005
	We have taken a number of steps to expand the use of direct payments. We have changed the law so it is now a duty on local councils to make direct payments, not just a power. We also introduced the direct payments development fund, which is £9 million over three years, to encourage investment in direct payments support services. In addition, we have strengthened the performance indicator to monitor the take-up of direct payments in each local council.
	We have produced a range of user-friendly information which councils should supplement with locally appropriate information.
	We have also consulted in our recent Green Paper, "Independence, Well-being and Choice", on ways to extend the benefits of direct payments to those currently excluded, by using an agent for those without the capacity to consent, or unable to manage even with assistance.
	We have acknowledged that our ability to increase the number of people using direct payments is limited by the barriers some people experience taking them up. Some people find that the responsibilities that come with having a direct payment are too much for them. We are piloting the introduction of individual budgets for those with assessed social care needs which will include looking at how those who receive services can be supported.

Doctor Training

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) senior house officer posts there are in England and (b) how many were filled by non-UK trained doctors in each year since 1997.

Liam Byrne: Information on the number of medically qualified senior house officer (SHO) and equivalent posts in the United Kingdom is not collected centrally.
	Information on the number of medically qualified SHO and equivalents in England and the number who qualified outside the United Kingdom since 1997 is shown in the table.
	
		Number of medically qualified SHOs and equivalents(41) in England and number of SHO and equivalents who qualified outside the UK Number (headcount)
		
			  Medically qualified SHOs and equivalents in England Medically qualified SHOs and equivalents who qualified outside the UK 
		
		
			 1997 14,580 5,722 
			 1998 14,774 5,592 
			 1999 14,812 5,335 
			 2000 15,081 5,216 
			 2001 15,409 5,422 
			 2002 16,685 6,281 
			 2003 18,212 7,727 
			 2004 20,094 9,362 
		
	
	(41) Excludes all staff with a dental specialty. Information about country of qualification is derived from the General Medical Council.
	Source:
	National Health Service Health and Social Care Information Centre medical and dental workforce census.

Health Services (Essex)

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many speech and language therapists have been on staff in the Essex strategic health authority in each of the last three years.

Rosie Winterton: The number of speech and language therapists that have been on staff in the Essex strategic health authority (SHA) in each of the last three years is shown in the table.
	
		National health service hospital and community health services: Qualified speech and language therapists in the Essex SHA area by organisation as at 30 September in each specified year Headcount
		
			  Organisation code 2002 2003 2004 
		
		
			 Essex SHA total Q03 131 136 140 
			 Basildon Primary Care Trust (PCT) 5GR 31 18 17 
			 Castle Point and Rochford PCT 5JP (42)— 14 18 
			 Colchester PCT 5GM (42)— 30 33 
			 Epping Forest PCT 5AJ 27 31 29 
			 Essex Rivers Healthcare NHS Trust RDE 32 (42)— (42)— 
			 Maldon and South Chelmsford PCT 5GL 33 35 34 
			 Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS  Trust RQ8 2 1 1 
			 South Essex Partnership NHS Trust RWN 6 7 8 
		
	
	(42) Zero
	Source:
	Health and Social Care Information Centre non-medical workforce census.

Hospital Re-admissions

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the rates of re-admission to hospitals were in (a) England and (b) Lancashire in each year since 1997.

Liam Byrne: pursuant to the reply, 17 October 2005, Official Report, c. 763W
	My previous reply should read as follows:
	Re-admission data from 1998–99, which is calculated using the re-admission rate definition, "emergency re-admissions to hospitals within 28 days of discharge to hospitals", is available at www.nchod.nhs.uk, where a full definition is given in the guidance notes.
	I regret that due to a clerical error, table 2 in the reply the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health (Miss Melanie Johnson) gave the hon. Member for Ribble Valley (Mr. Evans) on 22 March 2005, Official Report, column 758W was incorrect. The correct information is contained in this answer.

Local Health Communities

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what systems are in place to ensure that her Department works closely with local health communities to understand their requirement for extra capacity in the services it provides.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 20 October 2005
	The Department carries out regular capacity planning and local delivery planning (LDP) processes with strategic health authorities (SHAs). In both of these, the Department worked closely with SHAs and, through them, with primary care trusts to understand overall capacity requirements in order to deliver the national targets for 2005–06 to 2007–08, as set out in "National Standards, Local Action".
	Capacity planning guidance is available at on the Department's website at http://www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/11/86/65/04118665.pdf.
	The LDP technical note is available on the Department's website at http://www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/09/54/49/04095449.pdf.

Mental Health Services

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many children with mental illness are being treated in adult wards;
	(2)  how many children in acute hospitals for mental illness problems are in (a) adult wards and (b) specialist children's wards.

Liam Byrne: The information is not available in the form requested.
	In the period from 1 April to 30 June 2005 in England, there were 589 hospital occupied bed days spent by patients aged under 16 on admission on adult psychiatric wards. The equivalent figure for patients aged 16 or 17 on admission was 10,269.
	In the same period there were 38,761 hospital occupied bed days spent by patients aged under 18 in specialist wards for child and adolescent mental health services.
	In the long-term our objective is as set out in the National Service Framework for Children, Young People and Maternity Services (September 2004) which states that,
	" . . . young people who require admission to hospital for mental health care should have access to appropriate care in an environment suited to their age and development".
	In the majority of cases with only a few exceptions this means that adult wards would not be appropriate and the national health service should work towards reducing the use of adult psychiatric wards for children and young people under 18.

Net Care UK

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the profit made by Net Care UK at the Trafford Diagnostic and Treatment Centre in the first three months of its operation.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 24 October 2005
	An estimate has not been made centrally.

Out-patient Appointments

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the Answer of 28 June 2005, Official Report, column 1523W, on out-patient appointments, how many missed out-patient appointments there have been in each year since 1997–98.

Liam Byrne: The information requested is available on the Department's website at www.performance.doh.gov.uk/hospitalactivity/data_requests/outpatient_ attendances.htm.

Patient Appointments

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what estimate she has made of the costs of missed (a) general practitioner and (b) hospital appointments in the last year for which figures are available; and what practical steps she recommends that general practitioners and NHS trusts can take to combat missed appointments;
	(2)  how many missed general practitioner appointments there were (a) across the NHS and (b) in each primary care trust in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Liam Byrne: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire (Mr. Lansley) on 28 June 2005, Official Report, column 1523W.
	In addition, the "Keep it or cancel it, but don't forget it" campaign, which is run by Developing Patient Partnerships, an organisation which is part funded by the Department, is intended to raise the awareness of the impact of missed general practice appointments. The campaign provides practices and primary care trusts with tools to help them address missed appointments including posters, stickers and examples of good practice from other practices.

Scanning Services

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to her answer of 4 October 2005 concerning mobile scanning units, how her Department defines modest revenue costs.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 14 October 2005
	As indicated in my reply of 5 October 2005, Official Report, column 2841W, this information is not centrally collected. However, the Department estimates that the modest cost would be in the region of £100–£200 on an estimated stay of seven to 14 days, depending on the length of the time the Alliance Medical Limited mobile unit is on site

Scanning Services

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what methodology was used to calculate value for money in the contract with Alliance Medical Limited for scans.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 18 October 2005
	Value for money from the services procured from Alliance Medical Ltd. for the mobile magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanning and reporting services was ensured with a quality specification and comparison with the latest available national health service MRI direct access tariff information at the time the contract was negotiated.

Smoking

Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the impact on the health of people in Liverpool of (a) a partial ban on smoking in pubs and restaurants as proposed in the White Paper and (b) a total ban on smoking in pubs and restaurants; and if she will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 14 October 2005
	No assessment has been made specifically for Liverpool. The Government published a partial regulatory impact assessment as part of the "Smokefree Elements of the Health Improvement and Protection Bill", the consultation paper launched this summer. This contained estimates of the health impact of different options. A copy is available in the Library.

Supporting People Programme

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions her Department has had with the Association of Directors of Social Services on the Supporting People initiative.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 25 October 2005
	The Department has not had formal discussions with the Association of Directors of Social Services of the Supporting People initiative recently. We are, however, in regular discussions with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister regarding the supporting people programme.

Therapy

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many established full-time equivalent posts there are in each strategic health authority in England for (a) speech therapists and (b) occupational therapists; and how many of those posts are vacant.

Liam Byrne: The table shows the number of full-time equivalent occupational therapists and speech and language therapists employed in the national health service within each strategic health authority (SHA) and Government office region, together with the rate of vacancies lasting three months or more.
	
		Health and Social Care Information Centre vacancies survey March 2005—NHS three month vacancies by Government office region and SHA area, for occupational therapy staff and speech and language therapy staff—three month vacancy rates, numbers and staff in post
		
			   Occupational therapy Speech and language therapy 
			   Three month vacancy rate percentage Three month vacancy number Staff in post) full-time equivalent Three month vacancy rate percentage Three month vacancy number (Staff in post) full-time equivalent 
			   March 2005 September 2004 March 2005 September 2004 
		
		
			 England  3.9 567 13.879 2.5 127 4.973 
			 
			 North East Government Office Region Total A 0.9 7 718 1.6 5 301 
			 County Durham and Tees Valley Strategic Health Authority area Total Q10 1..3 4 276 1.6 2 124 
			 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear Strategic Health Authority area Total Q09 0.7 3 443 1.7 3 177 
			 
			 North West Government Office Region Total B 3.0 61 1,979 1.7 13 750 
			 Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority area Total Q15 3.3 24 703 0.6 2 235 
			 Cumbria and Lancashire Strategic Health Authority area Total Q13 2.0 12 582 3.0 7 223 
			 Greater Manchester Strategic Health Authority area Total Q14 3.5 25 694 1.4 4 293 
			 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber Government Office Region Total D 3.6 52 1,415 2.0 9 458 
			 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire Strategic Health Authority area Total Q11 2.3 8 389 0.0 0 130 
			 South Yorkshire Strategic Health Authority area Total Q23 4.5 21 436 2.1 3 137 
			 West Yorkshire Strategic Health Authority area Total Q12 3.8 23 590 3.0 6 191 
			 
			 East Midlands Government Office Region Total E 1.1 14 1,304 0.9 3 347 
			 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland Strategic Health Authority area Total Q25 0.5 2 423 1.6 2 124 
			 Trent Strategic Health Authority area Total Q24 1.4 12 881 0.4 1 223 
			   
			 West Midlands Government Office Region Total F 2.1 28 1,331 1.3 7 528 
			 Birmingham and The Black Country Strategic Health Authority area Total Q27 2.4 14 573 1.0 2 240 
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire Strategic Health Authority area Total Q26 1.3 5 392 1.5 2 130 
			 West Midlands South Strategic Health Authority area Total Q28 2.4 9 366 1.5 2 158 
			 
			 East of England Government Office Region total G 4.6 66 1,375 3.7 14 364 
			 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Strategic Health Authority area total Q02 10.3 34 299 4.2 4 79 
			 Essex Strategic Health Authority area total Q03 2.6 10 373 2.4 3 104 
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Strategic Health Authority area total Q01 3.0 22 703 4.3 8 182 
			 
			 London Government Office Region Total H 10.0 231 2,078 4.8 49 982 
			 North Central London Strategic Health Authority area Total Q05 4.7 22 442 3.2 8 230 
			 North East London Strategic Health Authority area Total Q06 10.0 43 392 5.1 9 157 
			 North West London Strategic Health Authority area Total Q04 11.8 65 485 6.0 15 231 
			 South East London Strategic Health Authority area Total Q07 15.4 80 440 2.2 5 222 
			 South West London Strategic Health Authority area Total Q08 6.0 21 319 8.4 13 143 
			 
			 South East Government Office Region Total J 4.1 87 2,033 3.0 24 760 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight Strategic Health Authority area Total Q17 1.9 7 390 0.0 0 152 
			 Kent and Medway Strategic Health Authority area Total Q18 2.6 11 388 3.6 6 159 
			 Surrey and Sussex Strategic Health Authority area Total Q19 4.9 39 759 2.6 7 263 
			 Thames Valley Strategic Health Authority area Total Q16 5.6 30 496 5.4 11 186 
			 South West Government Office Region Total K 1.3 21 1,645 0.6 3 482 
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Strategic Health Authority area Total Q20 1.8 14 721 0.4 1 226 
			 Dorset and Somerset Strategic Health Authority area Total Q22 1.2 5 396 2.1 2 93 
			 South West Peninsula Strategic Health Authority area Total Q21 0.6 3 528 0.1 0 164 
		
	
	Three month vacancy notes:
	1. Three month vacancy information is as at 31 March 2005
	2. Three month vacancies are vacancies which Trusts are actively trying to fill, which had lasted for three months or more (whole time equivalents)
	3. Three month Vacancy Rates are three month vacancies expressed as a percentage of three month vacancies plus staff in post
	4. Three month Vacancy Rates are calculated using staff in post from the Non-Medical Workforce Census September 2004
	5. Percentages are rounded to one decimal place
	6 * figures where sum of staff in post (as at 30 September 2004) and vacancies (as at 31 March 2005) is less than 10
	Staff in post notes:
	1. Staff in post data is from the Non-Medical Workforce Census September 2004
	General notes:
	1. Vacancy and staff in post numbers are rounded to the nearest whole number
	2. Calculating the vacancy rates using the above data may not equal the actual vacancy rates
	3. Due to rounding, totals may not equal the sum of component parts
	4. Strategic Health Authority figures are based on Trusts, and do not necessarily reflect the geographical provision of healthcare
	5. The London Ambulance Service NHS Trust cannot be assigned to a particular Strategic Health Authority
	6. The 2005 Vacancy survey did not receive a valid return from the Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Trust. Figures for this Trust have been excluded from all applicable vacancy totals and calculations. Staff in post figures for this Trust are included in the England, Yorkshire and the Humber GOR and North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire SHA totals so as to be consistent with other Health and Social Care Information Centre publications.
	Sources:
	Health and Social Care Information Centre Vacancies Survey March 2005
	Health and Social Care Information Centre Non-Medical Workforce Census September 2004